Despite news articles warning of large-scale releases of methane due to climate change, recent research indicates that most of the world’s gas hydrate deposits should remain stable for the next few thousand years.

Although no one is quite sure where the coal for naughty kids custom came from, the truth is that coal has long been a very important part of our daily lives, let alone our holiday traditions. USGS has studied coal for much of our more than 130-year existence.